Smile like you mean it...

By Rhiannon · April 07, 2008

Ever since I was 16, I have been a fan of piercings. I have my nipples, vertical labret, 5 ear piercings, and I used to have an eyebrow piercing. It's become somewhat of an addiction, but due to lack of money I've had to deal with what I have now, and haven't gotten anything new since last August.

A friend of mine is a piercer in my home town, but I had never had the chance to get something pierced by her before, whether it be issues with money or scheduling. Last night I was in town, and decided to give her a call and find out when she was working today. She mentioned that she'd still be willing to do a discount piercing for me, so I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity. She's been piercing for about 2 years now, and I definitely trust her. I told her that while I didn't know what I would get, I would definitely visit her.

Next came trying to figure out what I wanted. I thought of everything from tongue, to nose, to even a vertical hood, but none of them really stood out or seemed right for this time in my life. So I decided to sleep on it, and see where I ended up.

Which brings us to today... I headed over to the shop she works at [I'm leaving the details vague so that she does not run into issues with her boss], still unsure of what I wanted. We spent quite some time catching up, and I told her that she could pick what to pierce. After some discussion about possible ear ideas, she decided that a smiley would be cool. I hadn't even thought of that, but I immediately liked the idea,

I signed all the necessary forms, and noticed that for once I really wasn't nervous at all about this piercing. Perhaps it was because I was in the hands of a close friend, or that I hadn't really had time to hype myself up about it.

She got everything together, and then it was down to business. First she changed the barbell in my vertical labret to a shorter one, something I had been meaning to do for quite some time. It was crazy how bizarre my lip felt without the jewelry. It just proves how attached I become to them, and I feel very strange without them. Then it was time for the piercing.

The actual piercing process was very simple. She obviously didn't use forceps, so it was the first body piercing I've had that was done free hand. I barely felt the needle go through - it was merely like poking the skin, nothing more. Putting the ring in was slightly more uncomfortable, which I expected, but it all went fairly quickly.

I bled quite a bit, but within a few minutes it had slowed, and I finally got to check it out. Immediately I knew that she made the right choice; it looks so cute peaking out from underneath my lip, and goes great with my lip piercing.

Before I left we went through the aftercare - basically just to make sure I brushed my teeth regularly, which is obviously not an issue, and rinse out my mouth to keep it clean. Beth only charged me ten dollars, to cover the basic costs, which I really appreciated. I doubt I'll get another chance to have such a quality-done piercing for so cheap.

Only a few hours, and I can barely feel any pain or discomfort. I even went out to eat an hour later and didn't notice it much at all, except for some slight difficulty getting a piece of spinach that was stuck in my teeth. I'm already glad that I didn't go for a tongue piercing, which would have caused so much more trauma to my mouth. And I really enjoy talking/smiling to people and seeing if they notice or not, and their look of shock when I show them was it is.

I definitely recommend a smiley to anyone who wants a simple, fairly unique, piercing to pass the time. Not only is it low-pain & low-stress, it's a great conversation starter. I'm so excited to go back to school tomorrow and see what everyone things about it. I've already become used to the feeling of the ring. It's interesting, but not annoying. I also look forward to trying out different rings for different occasions - I am definitely in love with it, and I'm already tempted to play with it, but so far so good.

Just make sure you're prepared for a few strange looks... it will definitely change your smile, fairly drastically, hence the name, but if you don't mind standing out, it's no big deal.

Details

submitted by: Rhiannonon: 07 April 2008in
Lip Piercing

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